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After winning eight Olympic medals and retiring last year<\/a> at age 25, Ariarne Titmus is done with competitive swimming. Now the 26-year-old Australian athlete is rethinking a life built around winning or failing.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a recent report from The Guardian<\/em><\/a>, Titmus acknowledged that she looks at \u201ca lot of things\u201d in her life as \u201cpretty black and white\u201d and it is \u201cnot a good way to be sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn my swimming career, I was all or nothing,\u201d she said. \u201cI was win or lose. I was achieve it, or fail. And I guess that\u2019s not a great way to be in life.\u201d<\/p>\n Titmus, 26, earned four gold, three silver and a bronze medal at Olympic events, making her one of the world\u2019s most accomplished athletes<\/a>. She left competitive swimming<\/a> after the 2024 Paris Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n Titmus had to reorient herself to a new normal after realizing that an all-or-nothing mindset didn\u2019t work for life after retirement from competitive sports. She knew how to win Olympic medals. Then she had to learn to live beyond them.<\/p>\n Titmus said undergoing a surgery in 2023 to remove an ovarian growth prompted her to reconsider her priorities and make room for life after swimming.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve definitely tried to change my outlook on a few areas of my life and not live with that super intense mindset that I had to have to be successful in the pool,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t have to be like that any more.\u201d<\/p>\n For other elite athletes besides Titmus, retiring has required them to reconsider how they structure their days and measure success.\u00a0<\/p>\n Record-breaking U.S. swimmer<\/a> Michael Phelps, who retired from the sport in 2016 after taking home 28 Olympic medals, told CNBC<\/a> in 2021 that his competitive career had revolved around controlling everything he could to achieve near-perfection. When he retired, he had to learn to slow down, take deep breaths during stressful situations and seek support rather than manage everything himself. During the pandemic, that meant speaking more frequently with his therapist, friends and family.\u00a0<\/p>\n Phelps did not abandon every familiar habit. He said he still exercised six or seven times a week, including weightlifting sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, competitive Australian tennis player Ashleigh Barty took a different approach. When she retired, she focused on separating happiness from results.\u00a0<\/p>\n Barty announced her retirement<\/a> at age 25 in March 2022, explaining that her tennis career had resulted in a change in perspective. For her, success meant knowing that she had given everything and felt fulfilled. She would not allow results of a match to determine her happiness.<\/p>\n Barty achieved her childhood dream of winning Wimbledon<\/a>, an annual tennis tournament<\/a> held in London, in 2021. She said the accomplishment changed her perspective. She decided that her ambition had delivered enough results in tennis and chose to retire instead of chasing another title.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no right way, there\u2019s no wrong way, it\u2019s just my way,\u201d Barty said in her retirement announcement video<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n After winning eight Olympic medals and retiring last year<\/a> at age 25, Ariarne Titmus is done with competitive swimming. Now the 26-year-old Australian athlete is rethinking a life built around winning or failing.\u00a0<\/p>\nHow other Olympic athletes approach retirement<\/h2>\n
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